Screaming children.

Not so much the screaming babies, but the little kids who insist on making as much noise as they possibly can. The ones that do the SCREEEEEEAM while they're supposed to be sitting quietly in a nice restaurant. The kids who have never used their Inside Voices while they were inside.

After that, it's loud tv's (my parents must be going deaf!)

and my mother's humming. It's not a normal hum. It's the off-key, tuneless humming of the insane. It never changes and she hums compulsively, as in all the freaking time. (she's had a head injury, so I cant exactly get her to stop it all the time)

I know what that humming SHOULD sound like. The first time I spent any time with my mom's younger sister was about 10yrs ago. My aunt was driving me back to the hotel I was staying at, and she was humming the exact same tune! It sounded great! Apparently compulsive humming is not a feature of my mom's head injury, but must be inherited from a relative or something.

The music is apparently some tune that my mom and aunt's private piano/music teacher taught them (same teacher that taught Faith Hill) I think it's something they were taught to keep them in time or something with the music. It worked with my aunt, not so well with my mom.